While Sen. Charles E. Schumer was out of step with most of his party in opposing the Iran nuclear deal, the New York Democrat was in lock step with a majority of his voters, according a new Quinnipiac University poll.

The poll , released Tuesday, shows that 59 percent of New York voters oppose the Iran deal, with 57 percent believing it'll make the world less safe. The poll also shows that 54 percent of New York voters approve of the job he's doing in Congress, to just 32 percent opposed. “The poll shows Senator Schumer is in a very strong position across the state," Schumer spokesman Matt House said in a statement. "Senator Schumer remains focused on doing his job: working hard and delivering results for New Yorkers.”

With President Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy achievement and America’s standing with its allies both on the line, and with a void among Senate Democratic leadership, someone needed to step up to ensure the Iran nuclear agreement survived largely Republican opposition.

Trump greets fellow candidate Cruz at a rally organized by the Tea Party Patriots on Capitol Hill in Washington to oppose the Iran nuclear agreement. (Al Drago/CQ Roll Call)

When conservatives gathered Wednesday afternoon at the Capitol to protest the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran, it wasn’t just the Democratic president who faced angry words from the lawmakers and activists who took the stage.

In fact, some of the loudest boos came when speakers dropped the names of Speaker John A. Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican leaders whom the rally's speakers said would be to blame for President Barack Obama getting his way. “Leadership got us into this mess, and they’re the only ones who can get us out,” said Rep. Dave Brat, the conservative Republican who ousted then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a Virginia Republican primary last year. “I think I know what happens when leadership does not vote with their voters!”

With presidential contenders Trump and Cruz on stage, Wednesday's event is as much about politics as policy. (CQ Roll Call File Photo/Al Drago)

Updated 4:50 p.m. | Even though the White House has the support it needs to reject a measure that would disapprove of its nuclear agreement with Iran, opponents — led by Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz — are headed to Capitol Hill to rally against it, anyway.

On Wednesday, a cast of more than 30 mostly tea party activists and lawmakers and pundits will take to a stage on the Capitol’s West Lawn to voice their opposition to the agreement, which opponents say would make it easier for Iran to get a nuclear weapon.
“That agreement is a disaster for this country, for Israel, for the Middle East,” Trump said at a news conference last week , adding he thinks it will lead to Iranian nuclear proliferation.

Corker and Cardin are two of the relevant committee leaders opposed to the Iran deal. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker made an interesting point on Sept. 4 : The two Democrats who have spent the most time studying the issues surrounding Iran are against the deal.

The Tennessee Republican was applauding ranking member Benjamin L. Cardin's opposition to the Iran nuclear deal; the news of which broke at the end of last week. Corker also opposes the deal, like every other Senate Republican with the exception of Susan Collins of Maine, who hasn't announced a position yet. "The fact that the two Democrats who have spent the most time in understanding the details and impact of this deal do not support it speaks volumes," Corker said in a statement.

While Democratic Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Michael Bennet announced opposite positions on the Iran deal Friday, they were united in their support for legislation they'll introduce to strengthen it.

Cardin, ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, announced his opposition to the deal in an op-ed , while Bennet backed the deal in a statement to The Denver Post. But the deal itself is already a fait accompli given that the White House has already lined up enough support to sustain a veto of a disapproval resolution, and that has Cardin of Maryland and Bennet of Colorado looking ahead.

Updated 1:22 p.m. | The White House added a 38th Senate Democratic backer of the Iran deal Friday — even as it lost the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

The support of Michael Bennet of Colorado brings the deal potentially within three votes of being filibustered in the Senate, and the new opposition by ranking Foreign Relations Democrat Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland stems what had been total momentum in favor of the deal. According to the Denver Post, Sen. Michael Bennet plans to announce his support for the deal, along with an additional plan to "strengthen the deal while steering more money to Israel for its national defense."

Rather than to try to soften the glare of Trump's spotlight, Cruz – like an end of summer beach-goer – has worked to bask in it. (File Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

As a legitimate celebrity from his 14 seasons as the host of NBC’s "The Apprentice," Donald Trump’s candidacy for president has been a ratings boost for the Republican Party, both literally and figuratively.

But while almost all of his competitors have followed conventional political wisdom and punched upward, hoping to chip away at the front-runner’s lead, Sen. Ted Cruz has openly embraced him. When Trump attacked Megyn Kelly for her tough debate questions, questioned John McCain's heroism in Vietnam, or accused Mexican immigrants of being "rapists" and "murderers," most of his opponents billed each instance as his biggest and baddest misstep yet. Cruz, the first-term Texas Republican who had positioned himself as the angry outsider before Trump entered the race, has welcomed Trump with open arms.

Updated 12:14 a.m. | Charles E. Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat and one of President Barack Obama's closest allies, announced late Thursday he will oppose the Iran deal and urge his colleagues to join him, just one day after Obama slammed the critics of the Iran deal as making common cause with hardliners in Iran chanting "death to America."

The New York Democrat's full statement is lengthy and significantly complicates the White House's full-court press, which is relying almost entirely on Democrats to sustain a veto. It also gives Republicans a powerful PR shield against increasingly strident attacks from the president on down that the opponents of the deal only have one real alternative: war.